Buffing machine



Jun 17, 1930. G. N. GORDON ET AL 1,763,774

BUFFING MACHINE v Filed March 19. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 17, 1930. G. N. GORDON ET! AL I 1,763,774

BUFFING MACHINE Filed March 19 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 17, 1930 sNr OFFICE GEORGE 1\T. GORDON AND GEORGE SAMPSON, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN- ORS 'IO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY BUFFIN G MACHINE Application filed March .19, 1926. SerialNo. 96,026.

This invention relates to finishing machines and is herein illustrated as embodied in a bufiing machine of the type illustrated in United States Letters PatentNo. 1,147,819, granted July 27, 1915, on the application of J. R. Scott. V

Machines of the type mentioned are provided with coacting buffing and feed rolls driven in opposite directions, preferably so that the bufiing roll rotates at a much greater speed than the feed roll; Such machines, which are not only adapted for treating the surfaces of soles but also for treating fiat or unmolded counters, box toe pieces'and the like, have commonly been arranged for the treatment of the whole width of the surface of a piece of work. In certain instances, however, it has been found desirable to treat only a predetermined portion of the width of the surface of the work. One example of such work is found in the case Where it is desired to remove the grain surface of a leather counter from a portion of the width of the counter. The surface thus treated lies along the upper edge of the counter in the finished shoe and may, by reason of the removal of the grain, be more readily cemented or pasted to the lining of the shoe to prevent wrinkling of the lining or the like, it being understood that rubber cement of the form commonly used in shoe factories does not readily adhere to the untreated grain surface of a piece of leather.

In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved finishing machine better adapted for the treatment of a predetermined fractional portion of the surface of a piece of work, leaving the balance of the surface untreated.

To this end,-the invention provides an improved finishing machine organization comprising'a buffing roll provided with a yieldable supporting peripheral surface and an abrasive covering having a length less than the length of the supporting surface, the supporting surface having a taperingly relieved portion within its uncovered area, together with means for guiding a counter or other work piece in such a manner that only a portion of the surface of the work piece will be treated while the remainder of the work piece which is positioned opposite to the relieved portion of the finishing roll is untreated. T o facilitate the presentation of right and left hand counters, as herein illustrated, the abrasive cover has both edges intermediate between the ends of the roll. Preferably and as illustrated guides are provided upon the front of the machine, one of which is rigidly mounted and the other of which is resiliently mounted for movement toward and away from said rigid guide so that it may co-operate with the uneven edge of a piece ofwork such as a counter. A right counter will be guided to one endof the roll for treatment by the corresponding edgeof the abrasive sheet while a left counter will be guided for treatment by the other edge of said sheet.

Still another feature of the invention consists in a novel organizationfor bufiing a portion of the width of a piece of work in such a manner that the buffed portion will merge gradually into the unbuffed portion. In the preferred construction and arrangement this is accomplished by positioning the edge of the sheet of abrasive material partially to overlie the tapered recess in the yieldable support ing surface. The taper of the recess continues somewhat beyond the point where the beveled edge of the work flattens out to the full thickness of the material. The support under the overhanging edge of the abrasive sheet is therefore relieved, and the bufiing action is minimizedat the extreme edge of said sheetand increases gradually as the depth of the recess in the roll decreases.

Inbufiinga portion of the margin of the curved edge of a counter along its grain side, it is desired to carry the buffed margin around the curved ends of the counter. This may be accomplished at the entering end by the proper placing of the Work in the machine by the operator who enters it at an angle and allows the machine to buff the end margin before it starts along thepath determined by the guides. The trailing end of the counter, however, is beyond the operators .control, and unless the counter is diverted, the ma chine will not buff themargin of the counter around the curved edge of the trailing end but will pass it through the machine in substantially a straight line along which it has been directed by the guides.

To overcome this disadvantage, still another feature of the invention consists in means for diverting the counter from the path of movement which it has assumed in passing between the feed and butting rolls so that the curved margin of the trailing end of the work will be presented to the edge of the abrasive covering upon the butting roll. The illustrated construction provides a diverting member placed upon the machine beyond the buffing roll and adapted to contact with the entering end of the counter at the time when the trailing end is approaching the buffing roll so as to turn the counter to present said trailing end to the operative part of the bufiing roll to cause the finishing action to extend around the curved portion. In order to avoid any possibility of turning the counter away from its guide, so that the full width of the margin may not be treated, aduitional diverting means may be provided arranged to retard the side of the counter 0pposite to the curved end which is to be buffed, as, for example, by means of a friction device resiliently engaging the counter near said edge.

These and other features of the invention will be pointed out in the claims and described in the following specification which may be taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the head of the machine with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the machine;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a counter which has been treated by the machine; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the operating parts of the machine.

As in the machine set forth in Letters Patent No. 1,147,819, to which reference has been made above, a buffing roll 10 is mounted upon a transverse shaft 12 and is provided with a resilient supporting surface 14 illustrated as of felt, surrounding a portion of which a covor 16 of abrasive material is wrapped. This cover of abrasive material is shorter than the length of the supporting surface of the roll and is placed centrally thereof with its edges 18 and 20 disposed within the length of the roll and overhanging relieved or grooved portions 22 and 24 in the resilient supporting surface 14 of the buffing roll, the relieved or recessed portions being tapered or beveled to accommodate the beveled or feathered edge of the work. The taper of the beveled por tions is designed to conform somewhat genorally to the bevel on the edge of the work and continues somewhat beyond the point where the bevel on the work, when it is in operative relation to the buffing roll, merges with the unbeveled surface of the work, so that the depth of the recess or relieved portion of the roll beyond that point will be greater than the thickness of the material. At the point Where the bevel of the work being treated terminates, therefore, the roll gradually recedes from the work. By providing this tapered recess or relieved portion, rather than a rectangular groove (or abruptly terminatin g the roll), it is possible to cause the buffed portion of the work to merge gradually into the unbuffed portion, without danger of the roll cutting deeply into the material pressed against it. Inasmuch as there is no abrasive material opposite to the greater part of the recessed portions, the part of a piece of Work which is presented to such parts will be untreated. In addition, the possibility of dis figurementof the surface of the untreated area, by frictional contact with the yielding supporting surface of the butting roll, is absolutely prevented because said surface is altogether out of contact with the work. This construction provides a buffing roll having a non-uniform abrasive surface which is well adapted for treatment of a predetermined fractional portion of the surface of a piece of work. For the production of the best class of work, it is desired to have the treated portion of the surface of the work merge into the untreated portion gradually so that there will be no obvious line of division between the two parts. It is in order to produce this desired result that the edge of the abrasive covering is caused somewhat to overlap at the relieved portions of the resilient supporting surface of the buffing roll. As a consequence the outer edges of the abrasive covering are unsupported except by reason of their inherent stiffness and the action of centrifugal force. When properly designed, this construction reduces the magnitude of the effect of the buffing roll from its full effect, where it is supported by the yielding surface 14 of the roll, to a minimum effect at the extreme edge of the abrasive covering, thus gradually merging the two portions of the surface of the work together.

(lo-operating with the buffing roll is a feed roll 26 mounted upon a transverse shaft 28 and driven by suitable mechanism in a direction (indicated by an arrow in Fig. 2) opposite to the direction of rotation of the buffing roll. In order to make the machine effective so that the pieces of work will not be carried through the machine by the combined action of the buffing and feed rolls, without treatment, the speed of rotation of the buffing roll is made much higher than that of the feed roll. This feed roll 26 is resiliently mounted and capable of vertical adjustment, as in the machine illustrated and described in said Letters Patent, and the course of movement of the work is from left to right as the machine is viewed in Fig. 2. After passing the bufiing roll, the dust caused by the action of the abrasive material is removed by means of a rotating brush 34 against which the piece of work may be held'by caster-like rollers 36 and 38 which are mounted on vertical studs 40 pivotally supported in a T-shaped arm. 42 extending forwardly from another part of the frame'of the machine. These rolls and the brush are driven as in the patented machine, except that the grooved disk 44 (Fig. l) is adapted to hold the arm 46 in fixed position. There is consequently no axial oscillation of the bufing roll 10 and the edge of the abrasive covering of said roll is maintained in a fixed plane.

To facilitate the presentation of work to the machine when it is desired to use it for bufling the margin of counters, for example,

there are provided fixed guide members '50 and 52 which are attached to the upper surface of a presser plate 54,'the forward edge of which is beveled and placed closely adjacent to the'bite of the rolls so that the entering end of a piece of work is caught up. by the feedroll and drawn through the machine. This presser plate is adjustably mounted for movement toward and away from the rolls at the top of av vertical plate 56 which is adjustably held against vertical ribs 58 by means of bolts 60 (Fig. 1), and the-vertical adjustment of said plate 56 may be facilitated by the use of screws 62.

For the sake of illustration, there'has been shown in the drawings, in Fig. '3, a style of counter 64 which is differently shaped for rights and lefts, that shown in Fig. 3 being for a left shoe. In common with most counters, however, the major portion of the upper edge of the counter inthe position which it assumes in the finished shoe is comparatively straight, as at 66, while the end of the counter which is to be disposed upon the outside of the shoe curves around a comparatively sharp corner, as at 68. On the other hand, the end of the counter which is to be used upon the inside of the shoe is tapered more gradually, as at 70, and the edge 72 opposite the edge 66 follows an irregular curve. l/Vhen using the machine for counters having distinct rights and lefts. as in the type illus trated in Fig. 3, the left counters preferably will be inserted at the left side of the machine, viewed .as in Figs. 1 and 4, with their straight edges in contact with the guide 50, while the right counters will be inserted at the right side of the machine with their straight edges in contact with the guide 52.

machine, the operator will deflect the trailing end of the counter sharply to the left so that the curved end 70 Will be brought into engagement with the edge of the sheet of abrasive material, and the margin of the counter will be bufied around this curved end. Movement of the counters through the nia chineis rapid, and substantially as soon as a counter has been given up to the bite of the feed roll it will be taken away from the'operators hand and swung by the guide roll 74 into engagement with the rigid, strai ht guide 50 or the guide 52, depending on whether it is a right or a left counter. As the counter passes forward through the machine beneath the roll 36 and over the brush 34, its forward end will be brought into engagement with one of a pair of diverting stops82 (of which one is shown in Fig. 4) adjustably held upon the machine by screws 84. This diverting stop is provided with a transverse, upstanding edge 86 disposed at an acute angle to the path of movement of the counter, thus causing the counter to be turned out of said path of movement so that the effect of the bufiing roll upon the trailing, curved end 68 will be varied as the latter is swung around into position to cause the abrasive sheet to treat the margin of said end 68, As soon as this swinging movement has been started, it will be assisted by the frictional resistance of a retarding finger 9O loosely riveted at 92 upon a curved finger 94 which is slotted and may be adjustably held in position upon the presser plate 54 by means of a wing nut 96. An adjusting screw 98 is provided between the rear end of the retarding finger 90 and the arm 94 so that the pressure of the outer end of said finger against the work may be accurately determined.

After a certain point has been reached, the 1 guide roll 74, pushing against the edge of the counter, will also assist in the turning movement, as illustrated at the right-hand side of Fig.4 by pivoting the counter against the straight gage 50. The guide rolls 74 and the retarding fingers 90 are positioned to engage the work at a point adjacent to the bite of the rolls to enable them to direct the work accurately in a predetermined relation to the recessed portions 22 and 24 of the roll 1.0. If the guide rolls 74 and the retarding fingers 90 were to be positioned at any substantial distance from the bite of the rolls, the work, when pivoted against the gage 50, would be apt to enter the bite of the rolls at widely varying points along the lengthof the rolls.

By removing the guides 50 and 52 and the retarding fingers 90, thecentral part of the buffing roll maybe used for treating the whole width of a piece of work. Thus the illustrated machine is as useful as previous Ordinarily, the work to be treated by. the illustrated machine has first been provided with a beveled edge, and it is desirable to make the buffed surface substantially coextensive with said beveled portion. The machine is not limited to such use, however, and if desired to buff to a greater or less width than the beveled portion, it is only necessary to vary the pressure on the work by adjusting the feed roll 26 accordingly; if set further away from the buffing roll a narrower edge of the work will be treated, and if set closer, a wider edge.

In view ofthe extended description of the manner of presentation of the work to the machine, a further description of the operation of the machine is unnecessary. It should be noted, however, that the machine is adapted for use with different shapes of counters than the particular one illustrated herein and is also adapted for use in buiiing other sorts of pieces of work than the particular ones herein mentioned.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a finishing machine. a cylindrical finishing roll provided with a yieldable supporting peripheral surface, an abrasive covering for said roll wrapped around a portion of the roll and secured in place thereon, said covering having a length less than the total length of said supporting surface, said yieldable supporting surface having a taperingly relieved portion within its uncovered area and extending within the covered area, and means for feeding a piece of work past said roll so as to overlap an end of the abrasive covering so that a portion of the piece of work will be finished while the remainder of the piece of work which is positioned opposite to the relieved portion of the finishing roll is untreated.

2. In a. finishing machine, a cylindrical bufimg roll having a yieldable supporting surface, an abrasive covering wrapped around a portion of said roll having one edge intermediate between the ends of the supporting surface, said supporting surface being taperingly relieved adjacent to and within the edge of the abrasive covering which lies between the ends of the roll, and means for guiding a piece of work to the bufiing roll to cause a portion of its width to be treated by the abrasive covering while the remainder of its width passes over the more deeply relieved portion of the roll and is untreated thereby.

3. In a finishing machine for right and left cunters,.a cylindrical buiiiug roll having a yieldable supporting surface, an abrasive covering wrapped around a portion of said roll having both edges intermediate between the ends of the roll, means for guiding a. right counter to the butting roll to cause a portion of its width to be treated by one edge of the abrasive covering, and means for guiding a left counter to the other edge of said covering for similar treatment.

l. In a finishing machine, a cylindrical buifing roll having a yieldable supporting surface tapered to form a recess at each end of the roll, an abrasive covering wrapped around said roll disposed between and partially overlyin said recesses, and a feed roll positioned adjacent to said finishing roll to feed flat work through the untapered part of the butting roll, said feed roll also extending beyond the edges of the abrasive covering so as to engage and feed pieces the inner edges of which may overlap one edge of said abrasive covering to receive a beveled finish.

5. In a finishmg machine, a buiiing roll provided with a yieldable supporting surface tapered to form a recess, a strip of abrasive material wrapped around said roll adjacent to one side of the recess and partially overlying the edge of the recess, and means for guiding pieces of work to said roll at a position opposite to the last-named edge of the abrasive covering so that a portion of the with of the surface of the work will be treated with the treated portion merging gradually into the untreated portion.

6. In a finishing machine, a bufiing roll provided with a yieldable supporting surface having a circumferential recess, an abrasive covering wrapped around said roll at one side of the recess and having an edge partially overlying the recess mechanism for feeding a piece of work to present it to said bufiing roll, and means for diverting the piece of work during its presentation to said bufiing roll from the path of movement imparted to it by said feeding mechanism to cause a curved edge of the piece of work to overlap said edge of said abrasive cover.

7. In a machine for butting the grain side of counters, a bufiing roll and a cooperating feed roll, a plate adjustably mounted upon said machine, a presser plate mounted on said plate arranged to press pieces of work against the 'feed roll to be treated thereby, said bufling roll being provided with an abrasive covering having a length less than the total length of the roll, said roll having the uncovered portion of its surface taperingly relieved, and guides upon one of said plates arranged to direct a counter to said rolls at a point opposite to the edge of the abrasive covering so that part of the width of the grain side of the counter may be treated while the remainder of the width of the counter coming opposite to the relieved portion of the bufling roll will be untreated.

8. In a buthng machine, a buifing roll and a 'feed roll disposed with their peripheries in close relation, said buffing roll being provided with a non-uniform finishing surface, a rigid guide and a cooperating resilient guide to direct work into the machine in a predetermined relation to the non-uniform surface of the bufing roll, said resilient guide being positioned to engage the work at a point adjacent to the bite of said rolls. 7

9. In a bufling machine, a buffing roll and a feed roll disposed with their peripheries in close relation, a presser plate adj ustably mounted on the machine adapted to be brought into the desired relation to the meeting edges of the rolls, said buifing roll being provided with a non-uniform finishing surface, a guide positioned upon said presser plate to direct work in a predetermined relation to the non-uniform surface of the buffing roll, and means for exerting a retarding force upon a face of the work near one edge of the work to change its path of movement while in contact with the abrading roll.

'10. In a finishing machine, a buffing roll arranged to buff a portion of the width of a piece of work, said roll being provided with a yieldable supporting surface having a beveled portion, and a strip of abrasive material wrapped around said roll with the edge of Q the strip overlying a portion of said bevel'so that the edge of said abrasive material is unsupported except for its inherent stiffness and the action of centrifugal force with the result that a piece of work may be presented to said roll at a position such that the abrasive material will operate upon only a portion of the width of the piece of work and the buffed portion of the surface of the work will merge gradually into the unbuffed portion.

11. In a buffing machine, a buffing roll having a non-uniform abrasive surface, means for V feeding the work to present it to said bufling roll, a fixed guide, means co-operating with said fixed guide for guiding a piece of work to present it in predetermined relation to the surface of the buffing vroll, and additional means co-operating with said fixed guide for changing the path of movementofthe piece of work imparted to it by said guiding means and said feeding means during its presentation to said buffing roll.

12. In a machine for buffing a portion of the width of counters along one relatively straight side and around a curved end of the counters, a bufiing roll, feeding mechanism, guiding means arranged to impart a directional effect to the counters to cause the buffing roll to act along the relatively straight, side thereof, and means co-operating with said guiding means for turning said counter to cause the buffing roll to operate upon a curved end thereof.

13. In a machine for buifing a portion of the width of counters along one relatively straight side and around a curved end of the counters, a buffing roll, feeding mechanism, guiding means arranged to impart a directional effect to the counters to cause the'buifing roll to act along the relatively straight side thereof, and means for engaging the ad- Vancing endof the counter'to turn it out of its normal path of movement as the trailing end.

is presented under the influence of said guid ingmeans to the bufling roll to cause the lat: terto buff a portionof the counter adjacent to thecurved end thereof. t r

14, In amachine for buffing counters,a buifing roll, feeding mechanism, means disposed in front-of the bufling roll for guiding thecounter as it is presented to the buffing roll, said guiding means including a resiliently mounted member urged into contact with the side of the'counter, and means operable during the presentation. of the counter mule buffing roll for diverting the counter from the path of movement determined byw said guide member.

15. In a machine for bufling a counter having a relatively straight side and an opposite side having-a relatively straight portionterminating in a rounded end, a buffing roll, feeding mechanism, and means for guiding the counter, as it is presented to the buffing roll, comprisinga rigidly mounted, relative ly' straight guide member of substantial length to which is presented the side of the counter having a relativelystraight portion terminating in a rounded end, and a resiliently mounted guide memberopposed to said fixed guide member and urged into non-frictional point contact with r the relatively straight side of the counter, thereby directing the counter along astraight path while the relatively straight portion of theother sidev is presented to the fixed guide member. and effecting a turning movement of the counter as the rounded end of said other side is presented to the fixed guide member. I

"16. In a buffing machine, a buiiing roll, feeding mechanism arranged to carry a piece of work past said buffing rollin a predetermined direction, and diverting means in the path of the piece of work and spaced from saidiroll at a distance less than the length of the piece of work for diverting the piece of work from the path of-movement imparted to: it bythe feeding mechanism while in contact with the buffing roll.

17 In. a buifing machine, a buffing roll, feeding mechanism arranged to carry a piece of work past said buffing roll ina predetermined direction, and diverting means for diverting the piece ofiwork from the path of movement imparted to it by the feeding mechanism comprising a member adapted to contact with the forward end of'the work to turn it aside while still in contact with the butting roll to vary the efi'ect of the buffing roll upon the trailing end of the work.

18. In a buifing machine, a butting roll, feeding mechanism arranged to carry a piece of work past said buffing roll in a predetermined direction, and diverting means for di verting the piece of work from the path of movement imparted. to it by the feeding ice mechanism comprising means for frictionally retarding one side of the advancing piece of work to cause it to turn out of the predetermined path of movement so that the effect of the buffing roll upon the Work is varied.

19. In a bufiing machine, a bufiing roll, feeding mechanism arranged to carry a piece of work past said bufling roll in a predetermined direction, and diverting means for diverting the piece of work from the path of movement imparted to it by the feeding mechanism comprising a diverting member arranged to contact with the advancing end of the work and a frictional retarding device resiliently engaging a face of the work near one edge of the work constructed and arranged to assist the diverting member in moving the piece of work out of its predetermined path of movement.

20. In a buiiing machine, a bufling roll, feeding mechanism to transfer a piece of work past the bufiing roll, guiding means adapted to act upon the work as it is presented to the bufling roll, diverting means engaging the advancing end of the work to turn it aside, and retarding means frictionally engaging one side of the work to assist the action of the diverting means.

21. In a bufling machine, a bufling r011, feeding mechanism to transfer a piece of work past the bufling r011, rigid and resilient guides arranged to engage opposite edges of a piece of work being presented to the ma chine, and means for diverting the work from the path of movement which it has assumed under the action of the feeding mechanism and the guides While in contact with the buffing roll.

22. In a bufiing machine, a bufling roll, feeding mechanism to transfer a piece of work past the buffing roll, rigid and resilient guides arranged to engage opposite edges of a piece of work being presented to the machine, and retarding means frictionally engaging one side of the advancing work to turn it out of the path of movement imparted to it by the feeding mechanism and the guides.

23. In a finishing machine, rotary means for finishing a portion of the width of a piece of work, and means comprising a roll for holding the work against said finishing means, one of said means being constructed and arranged to produce between the finishing means and the work a pressure varying transversely of the latter and said finishing means having an abrasive cover terminating transversely of the work at a point along the line of varying pressure said finishing means extending beyond the termination of said cover.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

GEORGE N. GORDON. GEORGE SAMPSON. 

